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advice on pricing mulch jobs

03-29-2011, 11:12 PM

I need some serious advice on pricing mulch i have lost to 10 mulch jobs this year how do you guys charge for a much job by the hour- by the yard - by the foot ? im lost and im tired of not making any $$$

I was told by the guy i bought out to charge by the foot "$8 A foot if it is 3ft wide x the length im confused on that

So i came up with charging for regular mulch $65 a load delivered and install if local i can get a yard of reg for $20 then each step up is $20 more so for the red it would be $105 delivered and install i know it high but im not sure what else any suggestions ??

Im not an expert either but i charge by the yard or scoop. in my area i charge $35 to lay a scoop. so if i lay 3 scoops then that $105 then i add on the cost of the mulch. hope this helps thats just my way of doing mulch.

Comment

I need some serious advice on pricing mulch i have lost to 10 mulch jobs this year

When you are bidding on these jobs, do you do it in person or another way?

Do you follow up a few days later if they don't tell you on the spot?

If the customer declines your bid, do you follow up and ask them if they could tell you specifics about the winning bidder and why they chose to go with them? You might be able to gain a lot of valuable information from a few extra questions.

Comment

i have lost to 10 mulch jobs this year
I was told by the guy i bought out to charge by the foot "$8 A foot if it is 3ft wide x the length im confused on that

The 10 jobs that you lost, are they from the same accounts that you bought? If so then maybe the past owner has a friend who is bidding on the job at a lower price or maybe the old owner is doing them because he knows it's quick and easy money. Maybe! At $8 a foot by 3'wide he is telling you if the bed is 10 feet long at 3 feet wide then charge $8x10feet=$80 to install that bed. Most beds you cover with mulch 2-3 inches in depth or less if you are just sprucing it up.

So i came up with charging for regular mulch $65 a load delivered and install if local i can get a yard of reg for $20 then each step up is $20 more so for the red it would be $105 delivered and install i know it high but im not sure what else any suggestions ??

This is how I price mulch jobs, $65 a yard. One yard of mulch is 24-27 bags of mulch.I am not suggesting that you get your mulch in bags(box store deals) due to the fact you make more money in bulk. If the area is already cleaned out then it's simple. It takes me about 1/2 to do one yard, so at $65 I'm making money. If I need to clean said area, then I charge a cleanup charge. You need to know what dollar amount you want to make an hour for your services and that would be your base amount. Then you charge cost, mark up and tax. I can get all colors of mulch for the same price and if I pick it up I save $3 a yard. If he brings me 1 yard or 10 yards the cost to deliver is only $20 total. You need to have or make a relationship with your suppliers so then can work for you and make you money.

I hope this helps.

Comment

The 10 jobs that you lost, are they from the same accounts that you bought? If so then maybe the past owner has a friend who is bidding on the job at a lower price or maybe the old owner is doing them because he knows it's quick and easy money. Maybe! At $8 a foot by 3'wide he is telling you if the bed is 10 feet long at 3 feet wide then charge $8x10feet=$80 to install that bed. Most beds you cover with mulch 2-3 inches in depth or less if you are just sprucing it up.

This is how I price mulch jobs, $65 a yard. One yard of mulch is 24-27 bags of mulch.I am not suggesting that you get your mulch in bags(box store deals) due to the fact you make more money in bulk. If the area is already cleaned out then it's simple. It takes me about 1/2 to do one yard, so at $65 I'm making money. If I need to clean said area, then I charge a cleanup charge. You need to know what dollar amount you want to make an hour for your services and that would be your base amount. Then you charge cost, mark up and tax. I can get all colors of mulch for the same price and if I pick it up I save $3 a yard. If he brings me 1 yard or 10 yards the cost to deliver is only $20 total. You need to have or make a relationship with your suppliers so then can work for you and make you money.

I hope this helps.

no the guy i bought out is helping me to get more jobs he just got me 5 more yards this week there is some guys up here that work dirt cheap !! so every one is going threw them then they turn arond and wine about what a crapy job they got i think i am going to stick with $65 a yard it souds fare then i can pay my elp and still make $ i picked up a mulch job to day lady wants 3yard just delivered she said she will install ok thats easy $ in my pocket

Comment

This is how I price mulch jobs, $65 a yard. One yard of mulch is 24-27 bags of mulch.

Yes I agree; there needs to be some clarity. When I get my mulch in bulk, the supplier always seems to give me extra. I measured it one day in bags and figured that I could fill 24-27 bags. BTW, I didn't fill the bags either to see how much I had. I shoveled it out and added how many scoops it took to fill one bag; then added all the scoops and it came to 24 low end 27 high end. My point is if you can get bulk always get bulk to make as much money as you can. If you bought mulch in bags at a big box it would cost about
$50ish and you would make say $15 to install.

Comment

When you are bidding on these jobs, do you do it in person or another way?

Do you follow up a few days later if they don't tell you on the spot?

If the customer declines your bid, do you follow up and ask them if they could tell you specifics about the winning bidder and why they chose to go with them? You might be able to gain a lot of valuable information from a few extra questions.

Before I started my own Landscape Service,a guy who was kind of a stone buster but has 150 lawncare customers and has a great business in the phila suburbs would require from us "1 yard per hour per man" (includes weeding,edging,) That formula allways kinda stuck with me and I will use it
alot unless there is exsessive weeding or the customer tells me "there was an edge there last year!" and "that was a bed last year" lol and is trying to get me to rip up 100 square feet of sod!! lol...So @ 1 yard per hour per man would = example: 1 yard of "the black stuff everybody wants" @ $30 a yard from the mulch yard(or what ever price it works out to be per yard when they deliver) Normally..$60 a yard spread,edged and weeded is good....$65 is better and if they dont want to see 1 blade of grass or 1 clover in the bed and not 1 peice of bark on outside the edge go $75 a yard if you pay 30 I never charged that much except if a customer only would want 1 yard ...I would say $60 is about what I charge.....If you have one worker with you and you both can spread 16 yards in an 8 hour day (including,weeding,edging) and you pay out $15 and hr for labor and your business is bringing in $30 profit for each hr on each yard for each hour then thats $45 because your only paying out $15...........but then you have fuel,wear and tear,etc,etc,.....so you walk with 30 when its all over any way but that isnt so bad is it?....for 55 a yard ill go around the house and grab all the big stuff,throw it down and spread it with a pitch fork after putting a "soft edge" on it!....

Comment

Most of the bags of mulch I have seen are 2 cubic feet. If there are 27 cubic feet in a yard, that would make 13.5 bags. I may not be figuring it correctly. Please let me know if I am wrong.

You are right the other guy is apparently misinformed.

I charge $55 per yard installed for dyed mulch, if they want it cleaned out that's extra, if they want it edged, that's extra, if they want preen, that's extra. We have spread 65 yards of mulch in one day at 7 different homes. We only do mulch on the weekends when I can get all of the former "landscapers from College" to come out and play in mulch with me. They have the experience to do the work, and you walk away with a beautiful manicured landscape.

Our company started focusing on lawn care, now we make more money spreading mulch in the spring then all year cutting grass.

One tip I have for you, get to know your suppliers, pick one and really get to know him/her. A little goes a long way with the guys loading your trucks, bring them a water when your loading up, they'll appreciate it and maybe give you a little extra mulch.

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1 yd of mulch covers a 10x10 area (100SF) 4 inches thick. At 55 bucks a yard delivered and spread. Cleanup (before mulch), Edgeing (with a shovel) etc extra. It takes me about 1 hour to do 2 yds. Mulch yards are a dime a dozen here, have 5 within 20 miles. I make a fortune doing mulch. Did about 50 yards in the last two weeks.